Lead Editor: Emily
Standardized Testing has been occurring in our word for hundreds of years. A standardized test is a test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or similar questions in the same way. They are scored in a standard way that eliminates any bias from the grading process. Unfortunately, by expecting all students to meet the same end point when they are all not starting from the same start point, controversy has risen. A world without tests is impossible - there would be no representation of intellectual or physical growth. However, our group decided to investigate the impact standardized testing has made on America. Standardized testing has made huge controversies and impacts every student's life - but it is and issue that can be improved.
II. Research Summary
Lead Editor: Taylor Include a paragraph that summarizes each team member's research on their particular research question.
Overall, I feel extremely more informed about the history of standardized testing. I was able to understand the process America has gone through to be where it is, today. I have learned that America has made many attempts to account for everyone's learning, however, I believe we have taken the easy way out at times. Although standardized testing has developed over the years, I think we should look more to testing like The New York Performance Standards Consortium, where they have seen clear positive results. I believe there is a long way for America to go. It's important that students are able to be creative and use their imaginations to discover and create things they are very interested in, that's how people learn, I saw that from a lot of the things we researched. Something that was also very interesting to me was that students are developing significantly more anxiety and stress problems than ever before due to standardized testing, which says a lot about the education programs in America. Teachers are even leaving their jobs due to the outrageous beliefs in standardized testing and how it also affecting teachers and their teaching processes.
III. Group Product Overview
Lead Editor: Ellie
Our team decided to do a PowerPoint presentation. We started with a short video to set the tone for our presentation and also hoped that the video would give a brief overview of our topic. In addition, our group did a Kahoot online quiz to engage students in the class, and simply to check if they retained any of the information. Each of us did a few slides on our own individual topics within our larger topic of Standarized Testing.
VI. Group Reaction/Opinion(s) about the issues related to this priority.
Lead Editor: Alexis, Emma, Ellie Now that you've researched your a facet of this priority, discuss your results and write two (or more) paragraphs expressing your opinions. The first paragraph should explain the majority opinion. The following paragraph should summarize other opinions held by team members about the issue.
The majority opinion held by parents, students, and teachers seems to be that there is far too much testing being done. There is evidence from surveys that class time is being taken away from testing, and critical skills and other aspects of the curriculum are being ignored. Students feel immense pressure to perform well on standardized tests as some of them count as a graduation requirement or even play a role in college admissions. Teachers are under pressure as well by administrators who hope for high test scores to receive school funding. Parents who see the stress their children are under when they come home from school also appear to be frustrated with the large amount of testing being done at all grade levels.
As a team, we believe there is far too much emphasis on Standardized testing in Rhode Island, and throughout the United States. Teaching to the test creates an atmosphere of uniformity and inhibits creativity in the classroom, on both the student and teacher level. In addition, it limits the ability of students to learn real-life skills, such as problem solving and critical thinking. In our research, we discovered the negative effects of education policies such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. We believe that changes need to be made on a state and national level to decrease the pressure put on students and teachers by high stakes testing.
Standardized Testing
Emma, Emily, Alexis, Ellie, TaylorI. Description of Problem or Issue
Lead Editor: EmilyStandardized Testing has been occurring in our word for hundreds of years. A standardized test is a test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or similar questions in the same way. They are scored in a standard way that eliminates any bias from the grading process. Unfortunately, by expecting all students to meet the same end point when they are all not starting from the same start point, controversy has risen. A world without tests is impossible - there would be no representation of intellectual or physical growth. However, our group decided to investigate the impact standardized testing has made on America. Standardized testing has made huge controversies and impacts every student's life - but it is and issue that can be improved.
II. Research Summary
Lead Editor: TaylorInclude a paragraph that summarizes each team member's research on their particular research question.
Overall, I feel extremely more informed about the history of standardized testing. I was able to understand the process America has gone through to be where it is, today. I have learned that America has made many attempts to account for everyone's learning, however, I believe we have taken the easy way out at times. Although standardized testing has developed over the years, I think we should look more to testing like The New York Performance Standards Consortium, where they have seen clear positive results. I believe there is a long way for America to go. It's important that students are able to be creative and use their imaginations to discover and create things they are very interested in, that's how people learn, I saw that from a lot of the things we researched. Something that was also very interesting to me was that students are developing significantly more anxiety and stress problems than ever before due to standardized testing, which says a lot about the education programs in America. Teachers are even leaving their jobs due to the outrageous beliefs in standardized testing and how it also affecting teachers and their teaching processes.
III. Group Product Overview
Lead Editor: EllieOur team decided to do a PowerPoint presentation. We started with a short video to set the tone for our presentation and also hoped that the video would give a brief overview of our topic. In addition, our group did a Kahoot online quiz to engage students in the class, and simply to check if they retained any of the information. Each of us did a few slides on our own individual topics within our larger topic of Standarized Testing.
IV. Visual Representation
Lead Editor: AlexisV. Research Questions and Reference Summaries
VI. Group Reaction/Opinion(s) about the issues related to this priority.
Lead Editor: Alexis, Emma, EllieNow that you've researched your a facet of this priority, discuss your results and write two (or more) paragraphs expressing your opinions. The first paragraph should explain the majority opinion. The following paragraph should summarize other opinions held by team members about the issue.
The majority opinion held by parents, students, and teachers seems to be that there is far too much testing being done. There is evidence from surveys that class time is being taken away from testing, and critical skills and other aspects of the curriculum are being ignored. Students feel immense pressure to perform well on standardized tests as some of them count as a graduation requirement or even play a role in college admissions. Teachers are under pressure as well by administrators who hope for high test scores to receive school funding. Parents who see the stress their children are under when they come home from school also appear to be frustrated with the large amount of testing being done at all grade levels.
As a team, we believe there is far too much emphasis on Standardized testing in Rhode Island, and throughout the United States. Teaching to the test creates an atmosphere of uniformity and inhibits creativity in the classroom, on both the student and teacher level. In addition, it limits the ability of students to learn real-life skills, such as problem solving and critical thinking. In our research, we discovered the negative effects of education policies such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. We believe that changes need to be made on a state and national level to decrease the pressure put on students and teachers by high stakes testing.